The Last Vampyre starts with a prologue set in times past where a group of villagers burn a house down belonging to someone they believe is a vampyre. Fastforward 100 odd years later & Reverend Augustus Merridew (Maurice Denham) contacts legendary detective Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) & his assistant Dr. Watson (Edward Hardwicke) about the mysterious goings on in the village of Lambery since a stranger named John Stockton (Roy Marsden) arrived. The local villagers believe Stockton is a vampyre, Carter (Andrew Abrahams) the Blacksmith gorily died shortly after having an argument with Stockton, Miss Ruddock (Hilary Mason) an old spinster who lives opposite Stockton claims he never sleeps & the Reverend himself has seen Stockton prowl the church graveyard many times during the dead of night. At first Holmes seems uninterested but the Reverend goes onto say that Recardo (Anthony Price) the baby of Bob (Keith Barron) & Carlotta Ferguson (Yolanda Vazquez) died shortly after coming into contact with Stockton & that a unexplained plague is spreading through the village. Holmes accepts the case & faces superstitious locals & growing evidence that something supernatural may indeed be going on particularly after the Ferguson's maid Dolores (Juliet Aubrey) is found with two puncture wounds on her neck...

This made-for-TV English, American co-production was directed by Tim Sullivan & a fine adaptation it is too. I will openly admit now that I have not read the short story 'The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire' by Arthur Conan Doyle on which The Last Vampyre is based upon so I simply cannot compare the two, sorry. The script by Jeremy Paul is nice & involving as it draws you into the mystery but I was surprised that for the most part it doesn't centre on a murder. In fact Holmes states early on that no crime has been committed but accepts the case out of curiosity & it's mysterious elements. Once I got over that fact I became interested & engaged in the story which gripped me throughout as I really wanted to see where it was going. The character's are strong with plenty of mistrust, arguments, affairs & friendships & I liked where the story went as it built up to a pretty decent double twist ending as all is revealed. I have too say I didn't guess the outcome & bizarrely I couldn't stop thinking about the cool scene near beginning when Dolores the maid tries to make her boss's son Jack (Richard Dempsey) kiss her boots & what significance it had, or indeed will have, to the plot although to be fair the scene does have meaning in the context of the film, it's just a brief scene for some reason I couldn't stop thinking about whenever the character's reappeared on screen. Technically The Last Vampyre is very solid, while the budget probably wasn't huge the production is suitably impressive although there are still villages that look like the one in this in the UK even now, the props & settings are not too extravagant or detailed which gives it a certain bleak minimalist look & the costumes look & feel right. The acting is impressive from a good cast & I'm warming to Brett as Holmes having also seen his portrayal of the character in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1988) made a few years prior to this. Despite the fact that there is no murder for Holmes to investigate the other mystery elements of the story managed to grab & maintain my interest right through to the very satisfying climax where all is revealed. I think this is a must for Holmes & mystery fans alike & definitely worth a watch for more casual viewers as well, recommended.

I guess the powers that be behind the Granada Holmes series didn't have enough of a story to tie up two hours when adapting the Sussex Vampire from the original canon. It sort of pulls the characters from the story and some of the basic plot, but beyond that, it is an entirely new plot. It's also exceedingly dumb. At least it banks on a group of characters who live by all sorts of foolish bits of knowledge, it drags Peru into the mix again, and proves that Holmes still rejects the supernatural as an explanation for murderous intent. I could see that the the series was coming to an end when the producers decided Conan-Doyle just wasn't up to the task.

It's fair to say this season of feature length episodes was a little hit and miss, after reading the novel I always wondered how The Sussex Vampyre would translate into television. A unique story from the pen of Conan Doyle, so different in many ways, fair to say they altered the original text greatly, for dramatic effect I can only assume. The opening is fantastic, has the feel of a movie about it, and the production values are excellent as always. Maybe a story that's a little far fetched for some mystery fans, but a nice drama for Halloween. There is a quality to it, that somehow wasn't in the next offering 'The Eligible Bachelor.'

Brett and Hardwicke are fantastic as usual, at total ease with each other. In deed you actually get to see just how good a Doctor Hardwicke made as Watson. Maurice Denham, Juliet Aubrey and Keith Barron are all great, but it's Roy Marsden that steals the show, one of the best villainous actors I can think of, he's great, and that hair!!

Far from the best, but I disagree with the mainly negative reviews, it is well worth a look, they went for something a little different, and for the most part they succeeded, even with a little supernatural silliness. 7/10